["In this way, the Company will obtain the qualification to sit at the table. And you will also be able to extract yourself from the endless vortex and obtain the liberation you have long dreamed of."]
["It's not the first time… this is the method you are most skilled at, and also the one you most desire. This farce began with a [Death], and it will also end with a [Death]."]
[The shadow suddenly smiled: "…So that's why [Diamond] chose you?"]
[Aventurine said lightly: "What he wants is only Penacony—regardless of method, regardless of cost… and it has nothing to do with any specific person."]
["Hehehe… it's been hard, hasn't it?"]
[Aventurine's gaze sank: "You've suddenly become very considerate. Has your conscience awakened?"]
["In the end I was born from your self, so I know very clearly that retrieving the chips that have been thrown is as difficult as ascending to heaven. The things you want to do—I cannot stop. The place you want to go… we cannot change either."]
[A faint rumble of thunder suddenly sounded in the sky. Aventurine raised his head to look at the cloud-covered firmament: "Spilled water cannot be gathered. All we can do is seize every opportunity and let ourselves win for one more second as much as possible."]
[The shadow nodded with emotion: "Yes. Unfortunately a person cannot make only correct decisions their whole life… although good luck has always stood on your side. You will always keep winning. You have never lost—but why is it you? Why... does it have to be you?"]
["If a lucky person's miracle is entirely built upon the misfortune of everyone he loves, and even more people… if every rain you bring never symbolizes the Mother Goddess's forgiveness and grace, but instead meaningless death again and again..."]
["Then just how many mistakes have you and I committed to have to be born into this world?"]
——
Arcane.
"I've heard similar words before..." Viktor recalled what he had seen and heard in the undercity when he was little. Indeed there were people who attributed others' luck to themselves, believing: it was others who had sucked away their own luck.
There were even more extreme ones who would resort to witchcraft, curses, and other means, attempting to interfere with others' lives.
However, Viktor believed that those who thought luck could be sucked away had often first sucked dry their own initiative over life, projecting their sense of powerlessness onto the world.
"Viktor, do you still remember that question the shadow asked Aventurine earlier?" Jayce asked.
"What question?"
"If he were allowed to choose again, would he still choose to become the child blessed by the Mother Goddess?" Jayce looked toward his best partner. "If being blessed means that one's own luck is built upon the misfortune and death of the other people of the tribe… it means that Aventurine's luck was piled up from the lives of one tribesman after another."
"Although this is only a conjecture and cannot be proven at all, the reason the shadow dared to say it like that must be because Aventurine himself has been tormented by this thought for many years and cannot forget it, right?"
"At the time, Aventurine did not answer the shadow..." Viktor's voice was like a rusty gear. "But if he were allowed to choose again, he would probably choose a warmer result. Yet the problem is—even if his tribesmen could all survive the massacre, of those who lived on as slaves, how many could walk out the way Aventurine did?"
——
["…Perhaps when I reach that endpoint, our confusion will be answered."]
["Hmph… fine. You go first, friend. I'll wait for you up ahead." Accompanied by the shadow's soft laugh, his figure gradually disappeared. But before leaving, he still looked back at Aventurine once. "In these final moments, say a proper goodbye to this child. Try to… die without regrets."]
[The shadow disappeared. Only Kakavasha and Aventurine remained at the scene.]
[After helping him take a commemorative photo, Kakavasha also left. Before leaving he curiously asked Aventurine why he wasn't leaving. Aventurine, however, smiled and shook his head: "I still have a… performance here."]
["Oh… then you're about to go on stage, is that it? Then let's go. I'll take you to the big stage."]
["…Mm."]
["So you're an actor… no wonder your clothes are so pretty." Kakavasha looked him over curiously.]
[Aventurine shook his head: "Actually I'm a… merchant. But I do have a performance."]
["Are you the same as those black-clothed people in the sky? But you're not wearing black clothes."]
["Ordinary employees are the ones who have to wear those clothes. My position… is much higher than theirs."]
[Kakavasha's eyes widened with envy: "So amazing! I hope I can also become a handsome adult like you."]
["You can." Aventurine suddenly smiled. He bent down and looked seriously into Kakavasha's eyes, saying gently: "You will definitely be better and more amazing than me."]
——
Delicious in Dungeon.
"Can't he just not die…"
"Robin and Firefly are both gone, even their physical bodies have disappeared. If he leaves too, the bloodline of the Avgin will be completely cut off. There will never again be such beautiful eyes in the universe..."
The campfire in the dungeon crackled. Marcille hugged her knees, her large green eyes filled with tears.
"He's clearly such a gentle person. I can't bear for him to die wuwu..."
"Alright, Marcille. Maybe things aren't that bad?" Chilchuck chewed on dried meat and looked up at the Celestial Screen. "Just now Kakavasha mentioned 'black-clothed people.' Combined with Aventurine's words, those black-clothed people must be people from the Interastral Peace Corporation. In short, before the conflict between the Avgin and the Katika broke out, the Company had already come to Sigonia and intervened in the dispute between these two tribes."
He furrowed his brows slightly and carefully observed the large and small scars and bruises on Kakavasha's body: "Although we can know that the Katika did indeed launch an inhuman massacre afterward, if we stand from the Company's perspective and think with the will of [Preservation]... would the Company really sit by and do nothing?"
"Ah, that's right!" Laios suddenly realized and sat up straight with a jolt. "The Company believes in [Preservation]. Something like a massacre that so clearly goes against [Preservation]—no matter how you think about it, they couldn't just let it happen, right?"
Although the Katika were strong on Sigonia, in front of the Company they were ultimately just a dish on the table. As long as the Company wanted to stop them, they definitely could stop them.
Chilchuck gave his conclusion: "So I suspect that the Avgin may have been rescued to some extent by the Company. It is not as Aventurine thinks—that they were wiped out until only he remained."
"But… Mr. Aventurine's status in the Company is very high. If there were surviving tribesmen, he should have known long ago." Marcille wiped the tears from the corners of her eyes. "And after so many years, I also don't believe Mr. Aventurine completely never searched for his tribesmen."
"Chilchuck."
Senshi, who had been silently preparing food by the campfire the whole time, suddenly spoke up and took the initiative to interject. "What Marcille said is very right. You overlooked one problem."
"Hm? What problem?"
"If the Company truly wanted to stop the Katika from launching a massacre, then the massacre could never have happened from the beginning. But everyone knows what the result was—"
Senshi raised his head with a grave expression and looked at Kakavasha. "…This is enough to show that the Company never intended to intervene in the fighting between their tribes from the start. The Company only wanted to make a deal with the victor of this slaughter."
——
[The two arrived deep inside the theater and stopped in front of the curtain.]
["Behind this curtain is the big stage..." Kakavasha looked back at Aventurine and smiled faintly. "It's almost time to go on stage. Are you ready? I wish your performance complete success."]
["Thank you."]
["You still look very nervous…" Kakavasha stretched out his tender little hand. "Then let's do a 'palm-to-palm'? If we have the Mother Goddess's blessing, you can relax a little."]